Successfully Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Sexual harassment is often an uncomfortable subject to talk about, but it is necessary to discuss it so it
can be prevented as much as possible. Sexual harassment occurs more often than anyone would like to
admit, and the workplace is a common venue for sexual harassment.
If you are a boss or in a leadership position at your job, you know that sexual harassment is illegal. All 50
states have anti-harassment laws that are in full working order.

Inform your staff
As a boss of your work environment, it is important
for you to convey to your employees that sexual
harassment is in fact illegal, and they will face legal
action if they decide to harass another employee.
Harassment occurs so often in the workplace
because employees cannot leave or take
themselves out of the situation very easily.
Organize a meeting where the primary focus is to discuss your companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sexual harassment policy. Go
into detail about a few different forms sexual harassment can take so your employees know what you
mean when you talk about sexual harassment.
It can often be an uncomfortable subject to bring out in the open, but it is crucial and necessary to do
so. Holding meetings like these can help prevent instances of sexual harassment from occurring in the
workplace and can help your employees to feel comfortable in a safe work environment.

Give proper training
It is important to give supervisors proper sexual harassment training as well. If the supervisors are
trained in how to deal with cases of sexual harassment, then employees will feel more comfortable
going to talk to them if they are being harassed.
Try to ask your employees periodically if everything is alright for them in the workplace. Keep an eye out
over the work environment to make sure nothing is awry.
You obviously wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be able to catch all instances of sexual harassment by doing this, but it can help you
be more in tune with what is happening in your work environment, and can help your employees to feel

like they are safe and someone is looking after them. Another important thing to remember as the boss
is that you should not brush off or diminish any complaints of sexual harassment.

Always take action
Even if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t personally believe the person, or for some
reason their story seems false, you should still look into it and
take proper action. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to imagine what would
happen if you ignored a complaint of sexual harassment in your
workplace and then your employee took legal action against
you.
Make sure to always be professional when dealing with sexual
harassment in the workplace. It is a sensitive subject in general
and should be treated as such.
In your sexual harassment training with your supervisors and employees, make sure that they know
simple ways to personally prevent sexual harassment. Appearing weak can sometimes encourage sexual
harassment, as can dressing provocatively. Victims of sexual harassment should never be blamed for the
harassment, but they should know of things they can do to try to prevent sexual harassment from
happening to them.
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